06/21/2025
Dr. Matthew Tinnel was born in Omaha, NE and he grew up in Olathe, Kansas and went to the University of Kansas for a degree in genetics. After undergrad, he attended law school at KU and practiced for 3 years in medical malpractice defense before going back to dental school at UMKC where he graduated in 2010. After dental school, he did a 1-year General Practice Residency at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City and then worked in private practice for 2 years before returning to the GPR where he eventually become that GPR Director in 2015. At the GPR, he practiced and taught residents all aspects of general dentistry including restorative, oral surgery, implants, endodontics, moderate IV sedation and operating room dentistry. He left the position as GPR director in 2024 and now practices with his wife, Jenny, who is also a general dentist and at Blue Cloud in addition to staying connected to the residency by doing a few OR cases a month at the hospital with the residents.
When not doing dentistry, he enjoys home improvement projects and watching his 3 boys play sports. An interesting caveat is that while he was in dental school, he obtained a private pilot's license. His favorite reading material is science fiction, and at print, he was finishing the 3 Body Problem trilogy. His favorite part of being a healthcare professional is taking care of patients with special needs. In his own words “serving these patients and their families as well as other underserved populations makes all the hard work and headaches worthwhile”.
